Today, we celebrate World Habitat Day and this year’s theme, as
declared by UN-Habitat, is ‘Housing Policies: Affordable Homes’. This theme is
in line with commitments Nigeria made under the Sustainable Development Goals,
to ensure that everyone in the country has access to adequate, safe and
affordable housing and essential services by 2030.
The reality in Nigeria, however, couldn’t be
further from this goal. Currently, the country has a staggering housing deficit
of 17 million, while thousands of people have been victims of forced evictions
and many more live in constant fear of being made homeless overnight.
In 2007, UN-Habitat dubbed Nigeria “one of the worst housing rights violators in Africa, if not the
world”.
Has the situation improved since? Not really.
Tens of thousands more have been chased out of their homes and places of
business by government bulldozers and police gunfire, without adequate notice,
alternative housing or compensation. In Rivers State, authorities forcibly
evicted at least 28,600 people between 2009 and 2016. In Lagos State,
authorities forcibly evicted at least 50,000 people between 2013 and 2017. Some
have lost their lives as a result of the forced evictions; others are still
missing and no one knows what happened to them.
Inevitably, the victims in all this are the
poor, who live in informal settlements, and whose land is coveted by state
authorities and influential citizens for the development of high-value real
estate. According to the World Bank, 50% of Nigeria’s urban population live in
informal settlements.
Forced evictions constitute a gross violation
of human rights and are illegal under international law. However, all too
often, Nigerians find their homes destroyed in the name of ‘security’,
‘development’ or to make way for the creation of ‘mega cities’. The courts are
very clear that housing is a human right. Justice Kutigi, of the Abuja High
Court, in his landmark Judgment of 2 February 2017, stated: “The right to housing should not be construed narrowly to mean
having a roof over one’s head but it should be viewed broadly as a right to
live somewhere in relative peace, security and dignity. There is a
responsibility on [g]overnments to create housing policies to enhance these values.
Our great country is under obligation to refrain from and prevent forced
evictions and demolitions which cause massive and frightening dislocations to
families and communities without some sort of engagement with the affected
people/communities.”
While the courts are unequivocal, many state
governments, in practice, do not recognize that housing is a human right.
Worse, they continue to forcibly evict residents and demolish homes without
adequate prior notice, provision of adequate alternative accommodation for
those rendered homeless, nor compensation for the losses incurred.
In Kaduna State for example, following threats
by state authorities to demolish about 1000 structures in Gbagyi Villa
community, residents filed a case at the High Court of Kaduna State on 10 March
2016. The High Court issued an injunction order on 7 April 2016 preventing the
government from demolishing their houses pending the hearing of their case
challenging the government’s claim to the land. However, the Governor of Kaduna
State, on 21 July 2016, visited the community and said that the forced
evictions would proceed regardless of the court order. He said: “These buildings will have to go… we will give everyone the
opportunity to show that he or she has title to the land and approval to build.
If you don’t have these two the law will apply and we will take the buildings
down …this is a criminal conduct, the case in court is a civil matter…they are
two separate matters”. Although the demolitions have not been
carried out yet, residents continue to live in fear that the governor will make
good his threat to raze their homes.
Their fear is far from baseless. Lagos State
repeatedly violated court orders and forcibly evicted several communities,
rendering more than 30,000 residents homeless. The Governor, on 9 October 2016,
issued a threat to demolish all informal settlements along the state’s
waterfronts and creeks which are home to around 550,000 people. On 7 November
2016, the State High Court issued an injunction against the demolition,
however, between 9 and 11 November 2016, at least 25,000 Otodo-Gbame residents
were forcibly evicted. Again, on 26 January 2017, the court which found
that the forced evictions and threat thereof were unconstitutional and illegal,
renewed its order restraining the state government from carrying out the
demolition. But state agents once again ignored these court orders and forcibly
evicted thousands more of Otodo-Gbame’s remaining residents.
World Habitat Day presents us with an
opportunity to reflect on the housing situation in our cities. Forced
evictions, which often make people homeless, are a major step backwards in
achieving affordable housing for all. If authorities in Nigeria are serious
about meeting the country’s international commitments on sustainable
development and in particular housing, they must first comply with court orders
and put an end to forced evictions.
Adebayo is a researcher at
Amnesty International, Nigeria
Source: www.thecable.ng
No comments: